Foldable and rollable bunk



April 5, 1955 w. D. CONE 2,705,331

FOLDABLE AND ROLLABLE BUNK Filed March 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 u F M m w 3 .7 m E W m 2 9 M m m n u n m w m 0 m a F m w a 2 m m 2 w w 1.4 w.

April 5, 1955 w. D. CONE 2,705,331

FOLDABLE AND ROLLABLE BUNK Filed March 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheen 2 /4 s s i M k El A z a e4 7 lwfly m2 m\\\\\\ IV/Y/I am D. Cone WWW United States Patent FOLDABLE AND ROLLABLE BUNK William D. Cone, West Haven, Conn. Application March 7, 1951, Serial No. 214,371

3 Claims. (Cl. -9)

This invention relates generally to bunks and more particularly to bunks of the folding type.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a bunk which may not only be folded upright, but may also be wheeled in its folded condition against a wall of the room in which it is located, thereby to render the bunk especially suitable for use in places where the conservation of space is desirable or essential.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a bunk of this type which may be folded or unfolded, or wheeled in its folded condition against and away from a wall, with especial ease and without any risk of personal injury.

It is a further object of the present invention hingedly to mount the bunk in a room for swinging movement in its folded condition against and away from a wall of the room, thereby to prevent capsizing of the bunk in its folded condition either when swung to or from the wall or when left standing thereagainst.

It is another object of the present invention to construct the bunk so that it will, when swung in its folded condition against a wall of the room in which it is located, neither give any visual indication of its true character as a bunk, nor have an unsightly appearance.

Another object of the present invention is to construct the bunk so that the same will, despite its foldability and swingability, be secure in its unfolded condition and fail to collapse even under an exceptionally heavy load.

It is also among the objects of the present invention to provide a bunk of this type which is of extremely simple yet rugged and durable construction, lends itself to efficient mass production at low cost, and has provisions for its ready hinged installation in a room.

Other objects and advantages will appear to those skilled in the art from the following, considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, in which certain modes of carrying out the present invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an unfolded bunk embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same bunk in folded and swung-away condition;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly in longitudinal tion, of the bunk in its unfolded condition;

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a section similar to Fig. 4, showing the bunk in folded condition, however;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 77 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section taken substantially on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary perspective view of a bunk embodying the present invention in a modified manner.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 3 thereof, the reference numeral 10 designates a bunk which, in this instance, comprises two beds 12 and 14 arranged in double-decker style. The beds 12 and 14 are at their ends pivoted to posts 16 and 18 for rotation about their respective central longitudinal axes, and are so spaced from each other and from the floor F of the room R that they may be turned or folded into the co-planar disposition shown in Fig. 2. One of the posts, in the present instance the post 16, is hingedly SEC- 2,705,331 Patented Apr. 5, 1955 mounted in the room R so that the bunk may, when in 1ts folded condition, be swung toward and away from the wall W of the room R (Fig. 2). To this end, the post 16 is provided with top and bottom pins 20 and 22 which, in the present instance, are journaled in a bracket 24 on the wall W and in a base 26 on the floor F, respectively, of the room R. The bottom pin 22 of the post 16 may rest on a conventional thrust-bearing 28 in the base 26, while the top pin 20 preferably carries a sleeve 30 which is received in the wall-bracket 24 (Fig. 3). To facilitate the task of swinging the bunk in its folded condition toward and away from the wall W, the post 18 is at its bottom preferably provided with a caster or casters 32. The bunk 10 is, in the present instance, also provided at one end thereof with legs 34 and 36 which impart stability to the beds 12 and 14 in their unfolded condition (Figs. 1 and 4), and which are arranged to fold with the beds into the disposition shown in Fig. 5 in order to permit the swinging of the folded bunk on the casters 32.

Since the beds 12 and 14 and their pivotal mountings on the posts 16 and 18 are preferably alike in all major respects, a detailed description of the construction of one of these beds and its pivotal mounting on the posts 16 and 18 will suffice. Thus, the bed 12 comprises a rectangular frame 40 which, in the present instance, is divided into two parts. The outer frame-part 41 has opposite sides 42 and 44 and opposite ends 46 and 48, all of which may be made of wood or any other suitable material, and joined in any conventional manner. The outer frame-part 41 has preferably also a closed bottom 50. Lining the outer frame-part 41 for reinforcement purposes is the inner frame-part 52 which may be made of angle stock, and preferably terminates short of the open top of the outer frame-part 41 (Figs. 1 and 3). The outer and inner frame-parts 41 and 52 may be secured to each other in any suitable manner, as by riveting 53, for instance. Projecting outwardly from the angle-reinforced end 46 of the frame 40 is a stud 54 which is journaled in a sleeve 56 in the post 16 (Fig. 3), and is secured therein by a nut or other fastener 58 in a recess 60 in said post. Similarly projecting outwardly from the opposite angle-reinforced end 48 is a stud 62 which is journaled in a sleeve 64 in the post 18, and is secured therein by a nut or other fastener 66 in a recess 68 in said post 18. The sleeve 64 has a cross-sectionally enlarged portion 70 which serves to space the frame 40 from the post 18 for a purpose which will become obvious hereinafter. The recesses 60 and 68 in the posts 16 and 18, respectively, may conveniently be closed by removable caps 72 and 74, respectively.

Supported on the inwardly-projecting flanges 80 of the inner frame-part 52 is any conventional bedspring 82 for the support of a mattress 84 which preferably extends above the inner frame-part 52 (Figs. 1 and 3). Placed on the mattress 84 is conventional bedding, such as a pillow 88, a sheet and a blanket or blankets 92.

The bed-frame 40 is, in the present instance, also provided with partial covers 94 and 96 which are hingedly connected at 98 and 100 with the opposite sides 42 and 44, respectively, of the frame 12 (Figs. 1 and 4) so as to be swingable onto the top of the bedding to hold it confined in the frame 40 when the bed is in its folded condition (Fig. 5). To further this end, the covers 94 and 96 are provided with opposite holders 102 and 104, respectively, for the anchorage of the complemental parts 106 and 108 of a buckle'strap 110 which, when closed, as in Fig. 5, will hold the covers 94 and 96 in their beddingretaining disposition. When the bed 12 is unfolded (Figs. 1, 3 and 4), the covers 94 and 96 may freely depend from the adjacent sides of the bed-frame 40, and the buck1e-strap 110 may then be closed as in Fig. 4, rather than permitting the strap parts to dangle in an unsightly fashion as in Fig. 1.

As hereinbefore mentioned, the upper bed 14 is identical with, and its pivotal support on the posts 16 and 18 is similar to that of, the lower bed 12, wherefore parts of the upper bed and its pivotal mounting are, whenever mentioned hereinafter, referred to by the primed reference characters of the corresponding parts of the lower bed and its pivotal mounting.

The legs 34 and 36 are, as previously mentioned, so

arranged that they fold with the beds 12 and 14 into the disposition shown in Fig. 5. To this end, the leg 34, which may be a single tubular member, is suitably pivotally connected at 112 and 114 with the bed-frames 40 and 40, respectively, at the adjacent ends 48 and 48' thereof. In order that the leg 34 may, on folding the beds 12 and 14 in the direction of the arrows 116 in Figs. 4 and 5, swing into the disposition shown in Figs. 2 and without interference from the spacer-portion 70 of the upper bushing 64' in the post 18, the pivots 112 and 114 are provided in the lower left-hand corners of the respective bed-frames 40 and 40 as viewed in Fig. 4. The opposite leg 36 consists of two telescoping tubular members 116 and 118 of which the member 116 is, like a link, pivotally connected at 120 and 122 with the bed-frames 40 and 40', respectively. In order that the leg-member 116 may, on folding the beds 12 and 14, swing into the disposition shown in Fig. 5, without interference from the spacerportion 70 of the lower bushing 64 in the post 18, the pivots 120 and 122 are provided in the upper right-hand corners of the respective bed-frames 40 and 40' as viewed in Fig. 4. The leg-member 118, which is slidable in the companion member 116, is in its extended bed-supporting disposition (Fig. 1) locked to the lower bed-frame 40 by a bolt 126 which is inserted into aligned apertures 128 and 130 in the leg-member 118 and bed-frame 40, respectively (Fig. 6). To prevent accidental removal of the bolt 126 from its locking position, the latter is provided with an annular groove 132 into which snap the opposite legs 134 of a U-shaped spring-clip 136 on insertion of the bolt 126 into the aligned apertures 128 and 130 in the leg-member 118 and bed-frame 40, respectively. The spring-clip 136 may at one end thereof be secured to a pin 137 in the interior of the leg-member 118, and intermediate longths of the spring-legs 134 preferably overlie a punched-out portion 138 of the leg-member 118 in the manner shown in Fig. 8, so that these intermediate lengths of the spring-legs 134 may snap into the annular groove 132 in the inserted bolt 126, yet clear the leg-member 116 when the companion leg-member 118 is retracted into the latter to the extent shown in Fig. 5. Thus, while the spring-clip 136 will effectively prevent accidental removal of the bolt 126 from its locking position, it will not unduly resist deliberate withdrawal of the bolt 126 when it is desired to fold the beds 12 and 14 and swing the bunk against the wall W. In order that the retracted bolt 126 may not be lost, the same may conveniently be connected to the bed-frame 40 by a chain 140.

While the pivots 112 and 114 on the leg 34 and the pivot 122 on the member 116 of the other leg 36 may be bolts extending transversely through these legs, the pivot 120 is a short bolt which, as shown in Fig. 6, is anchored with its head 142 in an upset portion 144 of the legmember 116 so as not to interfere with the telescoping of the leg-members 116 and 118.

The bottom ends of the legs 34 and 36 are preferably provided with non-skid shoes 146 and 148 of rubber or the like. Also, the legs 34 and 36 may be so coordinated with the adjacent end-post 18 that the latter is with its casters 32 slightly raised from the floor F when the legmember 118 is, in the unfolded condition of the beds 12 and 14, fully extended from the companion leg-member 116 and locked to the latter by the bolt 126 (Fig. 3). To permit the requisite slight raising of the end-post 18 when the bunk is unfolded and the leg-member 118 locked in its extended disposition to the bed-frame 40, the bushing or roller 30 on the top pin 20 of the end-post 16 may have slight clearance in the wall-bracket 24. In thus coordinating the legs 34 and 36 with the adjacent end-post 118, the former will assume the sole support of the unfolded bunk at one end thereof, so that the non-skid shoes 146 and 148 on these legs will effectively prevent any swinging motion of the unfolded bunk from its normal disposition for use, i. e., at right angles to the wall W.

While the description so far has dealt with a bunk having beds arranged in double-decker style, the present invention may also be fully embodied in a bunk having only one foldable bed. Thus, and with reference to Fig. 9, the modified bunk 101 may be provided only with the lower bed 12, having a frame 40" which may in all respects be like the bed-frame 40 of the previously described bunk 10. The end-post 18' and the opposite end-post (not shown) may, of course, be appropriately shortened, and the latter may be hingedly mounted in a base and a wall-bracket the same as the end-post 16 of the previously described bunk. Since there is only one bed-frame, and the same is pivotally connected with the end-post 18', the base of the latter may be widened as shown in Fig. 9, and the casters 32 may be spaced so far apart that the end-post 18 will not topple over when the folded bunk is swung against the wall. Also, the leg arrangement adjacent the end-post 18 is necessarily different from the previous bunk 10. Thus, the legs 34' and 36 may be pivoted at 160 and 162 to the lower left and upper right corners, respectively, of the adjacent end of the bed-frame 40" as viewed in Fig. 9, so that these legs may be turned toward the adjacent end of the bed-frame 40 when the latter is folded into substantially vertical disposition on the supporting end-posts. To lock the legs 34' and 36 in their bed-supporting disposition (Fig. 9), recourse may be had, as in the previous example, to locking-bolts 126 and 126" which may be inserted and spring-retained in aligned apertures in these legs and the adjacent end of the bed-frame 40".

The instant bunk, whether of the single or doubledecker type, offers many advantages. Thus, by reason of its foldability and swingability, the instant bunk is especially advantageous in places where the conservation of space is either desirable or essential, as in military and civilian camps, restricted room space in private houses, aboard humane carriers of all kinds, etc. More particularly, the instant bunk will, when folded and swung away when not in use in daytime, take up very little space and, by its construction, give little, if any, indication of its character as a bunk, thereby making almost the entire room available for other purposes while the bunk is not in use. While this feature of the instant bunk is of prime importance in the installations given above, it is of equal importance when the bunk is used in a childs or childrens room at home or in an institution. Thus, the instant bunk may be used at night time as a bed or beds for children, and may during daytime be folded and swung away to afford the child or children the entire room for playing or other purposes. Further, the instant bunk is, by virtue of the turnability of the bed or beds thereof about their respective central longitudinal axes and their support on the hingedly mounted post at one end and the caster-equipped post at the other end, manipulatable with great ease and without any danger of bodily injury into folded or unfolded condition and toward and away from the adjacent room wall. The leg arrangement at one end of the bunk will assure a firm support of the bed or beds thereof in their unfolded condition, and this same leg arrangement may obviously be duplicated at the other end of the bunk in order to obtain an even firmer support of the bed or beds in their unfolded condition. The provision of the partial covers on each bed and the strap arrangement thereon is instrumental in quickly arresting the bedding in each bed when the latter is to be folded, yet these covers will in no wise detract from the pleasant appearance of the bunk in its unfolded condition and lend to the bunk the appearance of massiveness and strength which the same neither has nor requires. Also, the provision of a closed bottom on the bed-frame or bed-frames of the instant bunk goes far toward hiding the true identity of the bunk as such when the same is folded and swung against the adjacent room wall.

The invention may be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

I claim:

1. A bunk, comprising spaced upright posts of which one post is adapted to be hingedly mounted in a room for rotation about a substantially vertical axis; superposed bed-frames extending longitudinally between said posts and being pivotally mounted thereon for rotation about central longitudinal axes thereof, respectively, into folded and unfolded positions in which said bed-frames extend substantially parallel to and transversely of the plane in which said posts lie, said bed-frames being sufficiently spaced from each other to admit them simultaneously into their respective folded positions; and

spaced links pivotally connected with said bed-frames at the ends thereof adjacent the other post so as to form with said bed-frames in all angular positions of the latter parallelograms, said links having extensions reaching in the unfolded positions of said bed-frames to the floor of the room, and at least one of said extensions being retractable to permit turning of said bed-frames into their folded positions, and releasably lockable in its extended position in which it reaches to the floor of the room.

2. A bunk as set forth in claim 1, in which said other post is slightly raised from the floor of the room when said one extension is locked in its extended position.

3. An installed bunk in a room, comprising spaced upright posts of which one post is hingedly mounted in the room and near a wall thereof for rotation about a substantially vertical axis; superposed bed-frames extending longitudinally between said posts and being pivotally mounted thereon for rotation about central longitudinal axes thereof, respectively, into folded and unfolded positions in which said bed-frames extend substantially parallel to and transversely of the plane, respectively, in which said posts lie, said bed-frames being sufiiciently spaced from each other to admit them simultaneously into their respective folded positions and serving also as the sole ties between said posts adapted to hold the other post upright when standing on the floor or being moved thereon in swinging the bunk with its folded bed-frames toward and away from the wall of the room; and spaced legs at the ends of said bed-frames adjacent said other post, said legs being foldable and unfoldable with said bed-frames and one leg being extensible and contractible so that the latter in its extended condition and the other leg will reach to the floor of the room, when said bedframes are in their unfolded positions, and hold the latter against turning from their unfolded positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 163,020 Mahony May 11, 1875 622,993 Chamberlain Apr. 11, 1899 640,782 Lein Jan. 9, 1900 1,354,615 James Oct. 5, 1920 1,428,759 Crain Sept. 12, 1922 2,276,998 Stollenwerk Mar. 17, 1942 2,383,837 Ashmusen Aug. 28, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 25,022 Great Britain Oct. 28, 1897 

